Always Close By
by 6Amaya6
Summary: Tenten gets caught in a storm...what will happen? A simple NejiTen oneshot.


O.O Well it seems I've finally decided to get off my lazy butt and actually write my very first fanfic. It is based on the anime series, Naruto…anyways on with the story!

Ok so I've actually updated this story a bit from its original…not a lot, just enough for it to have more substance.

Oh yeah guess I need the disclaimer /

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto. If I did Neji and Tenten would be together already, and Sasuke wouldn't have gone off with that creep, Orochimaru >.>

* * *

The rain was pouring heavily down from the dark and cloudy sky. The howling wind was viscous and numbingly cold. Thunder and lightening clashed and boomed making the hard earth below it shake in fear, and that wasn't the only thing shaking either.

Tenten was shaking like no tomorrow. She had been making her way home after her usual training session with her best friend, Hyuuga Neji. Yes, they are best friends. After some years, they were now 16, Tenten and Neji has grown much closer, although not as close as Tenten had hoped. She has been in love with Neji ever since the chuunin exams, but of course she learned not to get her hopes up too high. Though Neji had warmed up some, he was still fairly cold, and Tenten knew the last thing on his mind was love, which brings us back to the point. It was this very topic that was on Tenten's mind while she was walking, which distracted her from the oncoming storm…

Tenten was now bolting home as fast as possible in an attempt to save her dignity. See…Tenten has a certain fear of storms…though more technically…of lightening and thunder. She normally has panic attacks and breaks down quite easily, but of course she does this in the private of her own home, which in this situation, is not the case. She doesn't want anyone to know of her weakness. She wants to be the best kunoichi out there, and to succeed she cannot fall apart. She wants her parents to be proud of her. She wants them to be able to look down upon the earth from the heavens and smile. Tenten grew sad as she thought of her parents. They were indeed dead. It was long ago when the accident happened. It was the accident that was the cause of her fear.

* * *

"_Noooo!" screamed Tenten. "Mother! Father! Please don't go!"_

_Tenten continued to scream and cry as she watched her parents die before her young eyes. 'She didn't understand why this had to happen to her…she was only four years old! What was she suppose to do now?' she thought. Tenten yelped as another clash of thunder and lightening occurred. The horrid storm raged on…the cause of her parents death. Unfortunately Tenten's parents had not been ninjas, just two normal, everyday people. They hadn't seen it coming…the huge tree that towered above them. It had come crashing down, hard, after being struck by a fork of lightening. They couldn't be saved…there just wasn't enough time…and so the tree fatally crushed Tenten's parents while crushing poor Tenten's soul._

* * *

Tenten shook her heard furiously at the memory as she continued on her way. The harsh rain pelted her delicate skin. Her whole body felt numb, almost paralyzed, and before she knew it she had lost all concentration and tripped, falling face first into the mud. She cursed at herself, but found no strength to stand up. Cursing herself again, she managed to look up enough to see a crack of lightening hit a tree…which was now falling straight towards her. She froze like a deer in headlights. She just couldn't move. Everything flashed and she passed out.

* * *

Tenten opened her eyes and saw pure white above her. It was blinding, so she blinked a few times, trying to adjust. 'Is this heaven?' she thought. 'I did…die…didn't I?'

"You're awake" a familiar voice stated.

Tenten gasped in surprise before realizing the white she had seen was actually _the _Hyuuga Neji's eyes. His gorgeous eyes that she had long fallen into the depths of and was overcome with love.

"N-n-eji? She managed to croak.

"Hn," he replied. "Are you alright?"

"I…" she trailed off. She looked up with sorrow in her eyes, and grabbed onto his shirt pulling him into a hug. She began sobbing uncontrollably, pouring out all her locked up emotions. "I was so scared Neji! I never felt so alone in my life. Everything and everyone seemed so far away…like nothing would ever be close anymore."

Neji flinched at her sudden actions, not used to such contact, but seeing her in this state made his heart ache. She was his best friend after all. He wrapped his arms around her waist, comforting her. He whispered, "It's alright Tenten I'm here now. Please don't cry." He really wasn't used to seeing Tenten so…broken. His thoughts took the better of him as they wandered to the possibility of actually becoming _more_ than friends with Tenten. He'd thought of it before, but never took it into consideration. He was always going on about the main branch and the curse…he has never let himself enjoy the finer things in life. He frowned to himself wondering how he could be so stupid. He was clueless this whole time, and now was the time to fix it. Now was the time to take a chance. Be free. He lowered his head closer to Tentens. His heart was pounding against his chest he was so nervous.

Tenten sniffled and brought her eyes level with his, but gasped at his unexpected closeness. His face was only an inch away from hers, the gap decreasing. Her eyes flickered closed. The kiss was gentle and soft. It was the type of kiss that made Tenten's heart flutter and everything around her disappear. She was completely speechless when he pulled away.

"Tenten…I wanted to apologize for being an ice cube all these years. I made a mistake and now I've missed out on so much. I believe I could come to love you and I want you to know that I'll always be close by. If you ever need anything I'll be there."

Tenten smiled before whispering, "I've already come to love you. I have for years now. You can take your time. Just knowing that one day you will say the words, "I love you", to me is enough to convince me to wait. I'll wait forever for you. She put her head against his chest, closing her eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep. Everything would be ok now.

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Woot! I completed my first fanfic! Yay! So? How was it? Sorry if Neji seemed a little OOC but I needed him that way. Anyways Criticism is alright. How else am I going to know what I need to work on? Please review and tell me what you think. Arigatoo! (Thank you).

Ciao

Ok so there's the revised edition…and I actually like it much better now :)


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